


i'll always be there

by Echoe



Category: Fire Emblem Series, Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/F, Implied Sexual Content, POV Second Person, Pre-Timeskip | Academy Phase (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), So take that as you will, why write happy things when i can write about manuela's insecurities? :), yet again byleth's gender isn't actually mentionned but it was written with f!byleth in mind
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-11
Updated: 2019-10-11
Packaged: 2020-12-09 07:04:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 876
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20990807
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Echoe/pseuds/Echoe
Summary: Manuela wonders why you care about her so much.





	i'll always be there

**Author's Note:**

> hello i have a lot of feelings about manuela so i've been writing about her  
then i wanted to write some kinda comfort smut about her (bc i'm horny and she's sad and also bc i've been thinking about [this comic](https://twitter.com/kirszche/status/1167565065656119296) a lot) but i've never written smut before so that was too intimidating so instead i wrote about the morning after!

Manuela is used to bringing knights to her room.  
She is less used to them actually staying, and not running away.  
She is even less used to finding someone in her bed in the morning.  
(Has it even happened before? She isn't sure.)

And yet.  
And yet, at the crack of dawn, she wakes up to find herself in your warm embrace, her head pressing comfortably against your naked chest, which heaves slowly and steadily. You're still asleep.  
It's odd, she thinks. Why are you still here? Why haven't you left her? Maybe she's still dreaming.  
(She doesn't want to wake up yet, if that's the case.)

She wiggles a bit to loosen the arms around her, just enough so that she can move back a bit to look at your sleeping face.  
You look so peaceful.  
She has the sudden urge to hug you, to wrap herself around you, just to make sure that you won't go anywhere. But she doesn't want to risk waking you up, so she gives up on that idea.  
(A small part of her is also scared of being too greedy. You've already given her a lot ; what if she ends up taking too much? What if you don't want to come back to her afterward?)  
Instead, she settles on caressing your face with her knuckles, then her palm, gently cupping your cheek. A small smile forms on her lips as she gazes at you fondly.

What did she do to deserve your kindness, she wonders.  
When you overhear a knight talking about a date gone wrong, you always come to her, worried that it might be about her (it often is). You're not very good at comforting people, but you offer your shoulder for her to cry on, and you listen to all her complains, always.  
(You also keep her away from her bottles of wine.)  
How could you not be tired of her? How could you want to give her even more?  
(Her smile disappears.)  
Because sometimes, crying and ranting isn't enough. Sometimes Manuela just feels incredibly lonely, and it hurts the both of you. So last night, you had offered her to fill up the empty space in her bed.  
(It had been terribly awkward at first, because you had never done this before. But you are both a hard worker and a fast learner.)  
You didn't like seeing her like this, you had said.  
(You wanted to make her happy, you had added. She remembers it well, because it had stirred strong feelings deep inside of her.)

She almost wants to cry about how kind you are to her.  
She does, actually, moving closer to you to bury her face in your chest once more. She tries to be quiet.  
Her sobbing wakes you up nonetheless.  
You mumble something that sounds like her name, before holding her tighter. In response, she throws an arm and a leg over you to pull herself closer to you.  
While you slowly wake up, her sobbing subsides. When you're awake enough to realize what just happened, you start rubbing soothing circles on her back.

"I'm terribly sorry for waking you up, dear," Manuela whispers shakily after a while. She feels embarrassed by her sudden breakdown (and a bit worried that seeing how much of a mess she is will put you off, even though you've seen her cry countless of times).  
You only hum in response, pulling back and sliding down until your face levels with hers, close enough that your nose brushes against hers.

"Hi," you finally murmur.  
"Good morning, professor."

She offers you a weak, forced smile.  
You don't like it.

"Can I kiss you?"

She blinks at you, surprised. After a few seconds though, a soft, delighted giggle escapes her lips.

"Trust me, you don't need to ask."

And so you put a hand on the back of her head and kiss her gently, moving your lips against hers until you feel her smile widens.  
That's a lot better.  
(She makes a surprised noise when you kiss her harder, tongue sneaking into her mouth, and in that moment she feels a bit silly for worrying so much.)  
You pull away after a bit, only to pepper her face with more kisses, because you know kisses are good. Kisses make her happy. It makes her giggle some more, and you feel a pleasant warmth in your chest.  
(It's then that you realize that a selfish part of you is glad that none of her dates have lead to something more, because it means that you can have her all to yourself.)

You eventually cease your assault of kisses to gaze into her honeyed eyes.

"Should we go get breakfast?"  
"Goddess, no," comes her quick reply. It doesn't surprise you, because you really don't want to move either. So you nuzzle into her neck instead, while she brings a hand up to play with your hair.

You don't know for how long the two of you stay like this. It doesn't really matter, anyway. All that matters is that, in that moment, Manuela is happy.  
You make a promise to yourself to ensure that it stays that way for as long as she'll let you stay at her side.

**Author's Note:**

> maybe i'll write the smut that should go along with this. one day. i don't know.  
right now i'm mostly sleepy so just take this folks


End file.
